Furthermore, most 3D modeling software is designed to open STL files. 3D printers are therefore being designed to work with the format.

STL has become widely accepted as the standard format for prints intended for additive manufacturing and manufacturers. The format makes file portability possible, which is a significant advantage for most manufacturers in the AM space. They may lack the precision of other formats, but most 3D printers are similarly limited in the level of detail they can reproduce, so it doesn’t really matter. Thanks to the format’s simplicity, STL files are fairly small. Many websites that publish 3D models use the STL format. The more triangles used, the higher the model’s resolution. This format uses a series of interconnected triangles to recreate or reproduce a 3D model’s surface geometry. The format describes a 3D object’s surface geometry without any color, texture, or other properties. STL stands for Standard Tessellation Language or STereo Lithography. The STL format is the most widely used format for additive manufacturing. This post is a guide that clarifies the process so that users can optimize their settings for specific needs. stl files for 3D printing and SLS printing. Try: (remember to send a newline after that) G1 X50 Y20 Z10 F5000Īnd the printer is supposed to move to that coordinate.There are many different ways to export. If you're new to this subject, I would download the Arduino IDE, open the serial monitor, and start sending some G codes to the printer.įor example, the movement command is G0 or G1, and it has 6 parameters - X, Y, Z, E and F (e - extruder, f - speed).

Repeat step 4 until you are out of gcode lines.

Open a serial connection to the printer and send the first line of the file.

So basically what you have to do (in steps) Every time you receive an ok, you send the next command, until you are out of them. Every time the printer finishes performing a command, it sends back an 'ok' response (It's ok for Marlin based printers, open a serial monitor and start experimenting yourself to see how your printer behaves).

You have to connect to the right port, then start sending the G code line by line.

Most 3D printers can communicate with your computer using serial communication. You can try the console-slic3r to see how it works and use it within your Java code.Īfter you have a G code file, you have to send them to the printers. Converting stl files to g codes is called slicing. Most 3D printers receive movement commands. Sending commands to a 3d printer is a very large subject.

3d print .stl files